Wednesday, March 16, 2011

It’s no secret that the United States government owes a pretty penny to foreigners. Certainly, what America owes to foreigners pales in comparison to what it owes to Ben Bernanke… but still, $4.45 trillion is no small number, even in these crazy times when terms like “kajillion bajillion” are more appropriate to quantify debt and entitlements.

China is the largest foreign buyer of US Treasuries with around $1.15 trillion in holdings… Japan is the second largest at around $886 billion. Curiously, the trend for China has been down – the Middle Kingdom has been steadily reducing its position since peaking in October 2010....